


Exploration and Compromise

by LittleTaliMagpie



Series: Gamer/Streamer AU [2]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Established Relationship, Gamer AU - Freeform, M/M, Not Beta Read, Speedrunner Ken, Streamer AU, Vlogger Daisuke, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22880890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTaliMagpie/pseuds/LittleTaliMagpie
Summary: Daisuke is excited to finally get a chance at speedrunning, but things turn out to be a little more complicated than he initially thought.Not to mention how strange Ken is acting.
Relationships: Ichijouji Ken/Motomiya Daisuke | Davis Motomiya
Series: Gamer/Streamer AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644697
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13
Collections: Daiken Discord Server





	Exploration and Compromise

**Author's Note:**

> Have another Gamer/Streamer AU entry! And over 4k word too, phew! Probably worth mentioning that I write all of these fics on the google docs app on my phone so that's impressive to me lmao.
> 
> I have quite a few ideas for this series and a lot of free time so hopefully, I'll have more to add soon™️! 
> 
> This is set after Random Encounter, probably about 11 months into their friendship and maybe 5 months into their romantic relationship. There's no set timeline yet, though that may change at some point depending on how many fics I actually make for this series. I've marked this as General Audiences for now but they do have a little heated moment (nothing overtly sexual), just be aware if that makes you uncomfortable. ^^
> 
> Finally, this story has not been beta read and so there may be weird grammar or formatting issues. If you see any, please let me know and I'll fix it right up!
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy this, there are a few more notes at the end c:  
> As always, constructive criticism is encouraged! 💖

Daisuke could barely contain his excitement as Ken booted up the game console. Finally, he was gonna get a chance to try speedrunning! This would make for amazing content, their fans were gonna love it! He shifted impatiently as the monitor brightened, the console’s logo fading out to show the home menu. Ken quickly flicked over to the game’s file, opening it. Why did setting up take so long?!

Ken chuckled. “Patience, Daisuke. If you can’t even wait for the game to load up, I’m not sure how you’ll handle speedrunning something.” He flicked some hair from his face, gaze amused as Daisuke huffed and folded his arms.

“I can’t help being excited. It only took like five months to convince you to give me a shot!”

“It was two months and you kept disrupting my runs,” Ken sighed. “Be grateful I’m allowing this at all.”

Daisuke pouted but conceded the point; he _had_ been very pushy to begin with. Finally, the game’s start menu loaded up, a calming melody playing. With a cheer, Daisuke whirled around to turn on his camera, mounted on a tripod to his back-left so the screen would be in shot. After checking the battery and storage and pulling out his spare memory cards (just in case!), Daisuke turned back to Ken.

“You ready?” he asked. Ken shifted a little before nodding, and Daisuke hit the record button. “Heya guys! This is Noods and today, I have a little treat for you! Kaiser has graciously agreed to give me a chance at speedrunning one of his games!” He pointed the camera at Ken, whose demeanor changed instantly from relaxed to professional. He gave a small smile and a wave before Daisuke took the camera back off him. “The game is called ‘ _Tomb Raider: Anniversary_ ’ and it seems to be an action-adventure game with puzzles. I’ve actually never played it, or even really heard of it. What can you tell us about it, Kaiser?”

Ken straightened. “You’re right about the genre, it’s an action-adventure game developed by a company in Britain called _Core Design_ . That company doesn’t exist anymore, it was bought by our country’s _Square Enix_ in 2009.” Daisuke was impressed Ken knew such a small detail. “The game follows a British archaeologist called Lara Croft, who is hired by a woman called Jacqueline Natla to look for a lost artifact called the Scion, which supposedly had ties to the lost city of Atlantis.”

“Ooh, that sounds awesome! How far do you think we’ll get today?” Daisuke asked.

Ken looked away, humming thoughtfully. “Probably not as far as you’re hoping. A big part of speedrunning is perfecting your techniques and strategies, which often means resetting at a certain place over and over until you get it right.” Daisuke frowned. Maybe he should’ve done some practice beforehand. Seemingly understanding Daisuke’s worries, Ken smiled. “Since you’ve never played before, we need to get you used to the gameplay mechanics before you can even think of speedrunning.”

“What?! But that’ll take ages!” Daisuke whined. He gave Ken his best puppy eyes. “C’mon, throw me a bone here. Pleeeeeease?” He batted his eyelashes.

Ken gave him a flat look. “Absolutely not. Speedrunning takes a lot of skill, I’m not going to throw you in at the deep end when you haven’t even stopped using armbands yet.” Daisuke slumped over with a disappointed groan. Ken’s expression softened. “The quicker you learn how to play, the sooner you get to start speedrunning. I’m sure you’ll pick it up fast.”

Daisuke sighed before sitting up and reaching out. Ken placed the controller into his hand and they both turned to the screen. “Do I just hit ‘new game’?” He asked.

Ken shook his head. “There’s a practice area in this game so you can learn the controls without getting yourself killed.” He reached over and laid his hands over Daisuke’s, making his breath hitch. Ken didn’t seem to notice as he manoeuvred to the practice area. He made a pleased sound as a loading screen appeared and pulled away. Daisuke had to resist chasing after him; he loved it when Ken touched him so casually. Although… 

Before he could finish that thought, the load finished and a cutscene began to play. As Lara read from a note, Daisuke sent Ken a confused look.

“I forgot you have to play through the whole manor first.” he sighed and reached for the controller, which Daisuke handed to him. “Give me a bit, I’ll run through this and get you to the gym.” 

Daisuke nodded and turned to the camera. “Since this may take a while - I assume you don’t ‘run’ this area…” At Ken’s affirmation, he faced the camera again. “I’m gonna turn this off for now, until we get to the part where I get to practice. See you guys in a little bit!” He reached forward and hit the record button, heaving a sigh as the red light faded out. 

When he turned back, Ken was already out of the manor foyer. Ken himself seemed more relaxed, slouching slightly and leaning towards the screen in concentration. Daisuke smiled; seeing Ken so into his craft was always inspiring. Even though his posture tended to suffer…

“Stop staring at me, I know what you’re thinking.” Ken grumbled, continuing through the manor. 

Daisuke snorted. “Then sit up straight, you gremlin.” He nudged Ken’s back with his foot, the other boy swatting at it absently as he solved a bookcase puzzle and grabbed a pair of pistols from their hiding place behind it. Lara quipped about needing “something to shoot” with her newly-acquired weapons, even as Ken was already jumping at a painting. 

Daisuke watched him in wonder, scoffing as Ken seemed to enjoy showing off by making Lara do random flips and somersaults. 

He wanted to talk, but also didn’t want to break Ken’s concentration. So Daisuke asked him about the puzzles he was doing, Ken describing them as he worked. Even then, Daisuke couldn’t concentrate on the gameplay; Ken was far more interesting.

Eventually, Ken sat back and stretched his arms, handing the controller back to Daisuke. With a smile, he reached past the object and grabbed Ken’s wrist, pulling him close for a chaste kiss. Ken sighed into it, fingers grazing Daisuke’s jaw and making him shiver. As much as he wanted to keep going, he had a video to film. So with a sigh, Daisuke reluctantly pulled back. Ken pouted a little ( _such a cute expression_ ) and Daisuke laughed softly, tucking some of his hair behind his ear.

“We’ll have plenty of time for that later, but I wanna get this video filmed while the lighting is still good.” He shrugged. Ken conceded with a sigh, sitting himself up straighter again. He kept doing that…

“Aaaand, we’re back! Hey again, all! Kaiser got us to the practice area so I think we’re ready for me to have a go!”

Turning back to the screen, Daisuke saw that Lara stood in the entranceway to a large gym filled with mats, pillars, climbing walls and even a pool! Though the pool itself was empty. “Whoa, I wasn’t expecting this! Where are we?” Daisuke wondered aloud.

“This is the gym in Lara’s mansion, Croft Manor. No enemies appear here, so practise the controls as much as you like. I’ll let you figure out how to fill the pool, though; give you something more interesting to do” With a playful smile, Ken stood and stretched a little more before asking if Daisuke wanted any snacks or drinks. Daisuke nodded, focused on manoeuvring Lara around. 

He jumped around, shimmying along ledges attached to the walls and swinging on the rotating pillars, eventually managing to make it to a higher area after several falls. At some point, Ken had returned with a bowl of crisps, some popcorn and sweets, and a large bottle of Daisuke’s favourite: melon soda. He himself just had a bottle of water. 

“Here, if you press these buttons at the same time, Lara will swan-dive,” Ken explained. “It’s better to swan-dive since you can start swimming a little sooner. Not that you can swim yet...” 

Daisuke hummed, trying it out. It took a few attempts, but he got the hang of it fairly quickly. “How do I prepare for fighting enemies?” he turned to Ken, then tilting his head a little at his expression. He knew he hadn’t been imagining it…

Ken showed him how to pull out his currently equipped weapon and Daisuke took a few moments to familiarise himself with the sensitivity of the aiming. “While we’ve got the guns out, try hitting these buttons.” he pointed to them. Daisuke did so and gasped as Lara did a sideways somersault, her guns still aiming forwards.

“Cool!” he cried, doing it again and again.

“If you change the direction with the analog stick, she’ll jump in different directions. Including forwards and backwards.” Ken smiled as Daisuke’s eyes lit up. Daisuke did this several more times before asking if they could try the game now. Ken chuckled. “Not yet. You need to fill the pool so you can practice swimming first.” Daisuke pouted, amusing Ken and making him laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it. Go over there…” 

Ken directed Daisuke on where to climb, where the buttons he had to press were and so on, until he finally reached a platform with a wrench, Lara saying she thought it had been lost.

“Go back to the foyer now and go over there…” Ken directed him through the rest of the manor, finally reaching a large set of pipes outside. Once Daisuke used the wrench on it, a short cutscene played, showing the fountains starting up.

“I can swim now?” Daisuke asked hopefully.

“Unfortunately, no. You still need to fill the pool, and it takes quite a while.” He chuckled as Daisuke whined, before reaching to the controller. “I’ll do it, I know how to do everything already so it’ll be faster.”

Daisuke sighed. “Sorry this is taking so long,” he said to the camera. “Kaiser is a genius though, so I’m sure he’ll have this done in no time.” He turned back to smile brightly at Ken, who was blushing a little and refused to look at him. Again, that alarm in Daisuke’s mind was ringing. What was wrong?

“There, all done.” Ken piped up, swimming through a tunnel and then up, breaking the surface to reveal they had returned to the gym. He handed the controller back to Daisuke, who cheered and started practising swan-diving into the pool a number of times. Once he felt comfortable with the controls, he asked Ken if they could _finally_ start the game now.

“Of course!” Ken said softly. “Hit this button to bring up the menu and then quit to the main menu. You can start a new game from there.”

Daisuke did so and the game started up, a short series of cutscenes playing. As Lara read from her father’s journal, Daisuke chanced a glance at Ken. His expression was smooth, almost vacant, as he watched the screen. He was about to speak up when Ken looked over and raised an eyebrow. Oh, the cutscene was done.

Daisuke looked around, finding the path up to the huge doors easily enough; the ledges had been made very obvious by the level designers, how nice of them! Progressing on, Daisuke couldn’t help but look at Ken again as the next cutscene played out. Ken was acting weird, but why? Was it...

Cutscene over, Daisuke had Lara pull out her guns and started moving forward. Ken told him to check areas for items as Daisuke made his way deeper into the huge cave. When he was attacked by a pair of wolves, he started flailing a little, jumping around as he shot at them. After the battle, he wheezed a little and glanced at Ken, who was shaking silently and had his lips pressed together.

“Stop laughing at me, you jerk!” he wailed. Ken ducked his head, the shaking intensifying. Daisuke shoved him playfully and he had to quickly reach out to catch himself, no longer able to hold the laughter back. _Oh_ , how he loved Ken’s laugh. 

Daisuke didn’t realise he’d leaned in until Ken turned to face him and froze, smile sliding off his face. He leaned away sharply and turned back to the screen. 

Now the alarms were screeching. Pausing the game, Daisuke turned off the camera and reached out for Ken.

“Hey… what’s going on?” He asked. Ken didn’t reply so he continued. “You’ve been off since we started playing. Is it the camera?” Ken stiffened - bingo. “Talk to me, Ken. Please?”

Ken squared his shoulders for a moment, then deflated with a sigh. “You’re trying so hard to help me get used to the camera, and I really appreciate it…”

“But…?”

Another sigh. “But I… I don’t…” he bit his lip and finally faced Daisuke. “I don’t feel comfortable being… affectionate on camera.”

“Joking around isn’t flirting, you know.” Daisuke pointed out. 

“No, but leaning in to kiss me is.” Ken raised his eyebrow in challenge. 

“Well, that’s true,” Daisuke conceded. “Sometimes I can’t help it; I _am_ attracted to you, after all.” Ken blushed and fiddled with a lock of hair. “That’s the beauty of pre-recording. I can take out all the shit you aren’t comfortable with.”

Ken hummed, picking at the hem of his shirt - a button-up, as usual. “I know, but having cameras on me just puts me into ‘professional mode’.” He shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know how to stop it.”

Daisuke reached out, taking Ken’s hand and playing with his fingers. “That’s why we’re taking baby steps. We start with recordings that we can edit and manipulate. Once you feel up to it, we can try livestreaming together. It doesn’t matter how long it takes for us to get there.” He lowered his voice. “I know I can be impatient and pushy, but this is important to me. I want you to know you can trust me to be yourself, even when the cameras are on.”

Ken stared, stunned. Then, his expression became so incredibly fond, Daisuke stopped breathing. “You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?” Daisuke nodded, and Ken reached out to caress his cheek. “ _Thank you_.” He murmured, fingers gentle. Daisuke’s eyes slid shut and he leaned into Ken’s hand, raising his own to hold it in place. He felt Ken press their foreheads together and opened his eyes a little. 

“I know you're trying,” he whispered. “I can be patient for you.” 

Ken chuckled. “I’ll take that as you giving me special treatment.” Daisuke shoved him suddenly, startling a squeak out of him as he sprawled out on his back. 

Daisuke leaned over him, a cheeky grin in place. “You get the _specialest_ treatment!” With no warning, he reached down and wiggled his fingers along Ken’s sides, making him gasp and jerk in an attempt to escape the tickling. It was meaningless, of course; Daisuke had him trapped.

“E-enough!” Ken cried through his laughter. “I give! I give!” Deciding to show mercy, Daisuke stopped and leaned down to press their foreheads together again. Ken pouted, complaining breathlessly about how mean Daisuke was. Daisuke just smiled, mesmerised by Ken’s beauty once more. His eyes were just _so blue_ …

Before he knew what was happening, he was kissing Ken. Ken froze for a moment before melting into the kiss, reaching up to slide his fingers through Daisuke’s spiky hair, tugging it _just right_. Humming, Daisuke adjusted the angle, reaching up to tip Ken’s chin and settling between his bent knees. Ken whimpered softly, a sound Daisuke _very much_ wanted to hear again, scraping his teeth over Ken’s lower lip, making him gasp, sliding his tongue into Ken’s mouth and _oh_ , that moan was delicious--

Daisuke’s head was spinning, soft hair between his fingers, Ken lying beneath him and tugging on his hair, all he wanted was for this to last _forever_ …

Ken pulled back with a sharp gasp, chest heaving, eyes dark, and Daisuke almost dove right back in before Ken lay a finger over his lips with a breathless laugh.

“As much as I wanna keep going, I’d also like to, you know, _keep breathing_ ?” Daisuke’s face warmed further ( _when had it got so hot?_ ) and he hid his face in Ken’s chest. Ken chuckled lightly, winding his arms around Daisuke’s shoulders and running his hand through his hair. “... I wonder if it’s selfish…?”

“Huh?”

Ken jolted. “Oh, I didn’t mean to say that out loud,” he admitted. “It’s just…” Daisuke waited. Ken sighed softly. “I don’t know, sometimes I… I get…” he grumbled in frustration and Daisuke reached up to comb his fingers through Ken’s hair, relaxing him further. He took a deep breath. “I get all… jealous and stuff. You’re always streaming or vlogging, and you never leave your camera at home. I know it’s your livelihood, and that you love doing it, but I just… want more time to have you to myself. No cameras, no personas or professionalism, just you and me _together_. That’s selfish though…”

Daisuke shook his head, the action awkward with him still laying against Ken’s chest. “It’s not that selfish. We’re dating, and have been for months. I thought we had an understanding of sorts, that we both do this for a living so we were okay with it. Now I know I should've made certain earlier. You deserve to have someone who can spend more time with you and won't shove a camera in your face all the time.” He pushed up onto his elbows and smiled down at Ken. At his _boyfriend_. “That’s why I’ve been planning to change my schedule.” 

Ken’s eyes widened. “What? You don’t have to-”

“I do. Like I said, we should spend more time together. I _want_ to spend more time together, without the cameras, without thinking about _content_ and _views_.” Daisuke scrunched his nose a little. “I love my job and my fans, but I love _you_ more. I want to hang out with you, watch you work and chill, and just… _be_ _together_ , y’know? Filming can wait.” He looked up from Ken’s chest and his eyes widened. “Ken?! What’s wrong?” 

Ken covered his face with his hands, sniffling. “I’m just… touched. I was afraid to bring it up in case you got mad, but you’re gonna change your schedule? Just to fit me in? Won't that just be a pain, too much trouble?” 

Daisuke smiled in relief, reaching down to gently pry Ken’s hands away from his face. “Of course it's not. And it’s not _JUST_ to fit you in; you’re a part of my life now and I want you to be comfortable here. I can move my schedule around easy, and my loved ones come before it every time. You're someone special, someone precious, someone I _love_.” He bumped their foreheads together. “Don't worry about the cameras. When they're on, just be you and everything will be fine.”

The brightest smile lit up Ken’s face as he nodded, tears sliding down his temples. Daisuke leaned in to kiss them away, Ken sighing happily and holding him close.

“So,” Daisuke started. “The next question is, how do we change things around so we’re both comfortable? Any suggestions?”

Ken hummed, absently running his fingers through Daisuke’s hair. “What about having designated places that you can vlog?” Daisuke made a confused noise so he continued. “You can still vlog when we’re out in public or in my filming room, but not anywhere else in the house. You can decide the restrictions for your own place, but that’s what would make me most comfortable, I think.”

Daisuke thought about it. Restricting vlogging to only public places would be too harsh, especially if the weather turned bad. But he wouldn’t want strangers filming his home and life without permission. Ken's idea was probably the best, at least for now. They could always revisit the issue later and see if anything had changed.

“Yeah, that would probably work,” Daisuke agreed. “As long as you’re sure you’re comfortable with that.” 

Ken nodded above him. “I’m sure.” With a satisfied sigh, Daisuke pushed himself back up for one more lingering kiss before getting back to the game. Before he hit resume though, he paused.

“How about this? Whenever we stay at each other’s places, I won’t vlog after a certain time! And I’ll make sure to save my affection for off-camera, don’t worry. We don’t have to decide on a time right now, just another idea to think about.” Ken fiddled with his hair and worried his lip. “Like I said, it’s no big rush.” 

After a moment, Ken nodded, relaxing. With a smile, he gestured to the TV, then the camera. “Shall we continue?” 

Daisuke hesitated. When Ken prodded him, he grinned. “How about we change tack and make this a casual playthrough instead of learning to speedrun? I don’t think we really have time to get to the speed part.”

Ken laughed a little. “Sure! Since you’ve never played, you definitely need the practice!”

“Hey!” Daisuke cried indignantly, Ken snickering in response. With a wide smile, he switched on the camera, apologising for the sudden break and explaining the change in playstyle, and got back to playing with Ken’s guidance. After his fifth time failing the puzzle to open the door to Vilcabamba though, he was starting to get frustrated.

Ken noticed, of course. “Are you okay? Do you want any help?” Daisuke shook his head vigorously, claiming that he “ _totally had this, dammit!_ ”. After two more failed attempts, however, he growled and dropped the controller in a huff. Rather than picking it up though, Ken seemed to be deep in thought.

“What’s on your mind?” Daisuke asked after calming down. 

Ken blinked and shook himself a little. “Just thinking if this is the right kind of game for you. Not that I think you’re bad!” He hurriedly explained. “It’s just, y’know, you don’t seem to enjoy the puzzles all that much and the enemy encounters are so few and far between that you seem kinda bored rather than having fun?” he trailed off. “Sorry if that didn’t make sense…” 

Daisuke reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I get you, don’t worry. Do you have any suggestions?” 

Ken hummed. “Well, what kinda games do you like playing casually?” He blinked when Daisuke suddenly flushed scarlet and ducked his head. “Umm… is something wrong?”

Daisuke fidgeted for a short while before blurting out “ _ILIKECOOKINGMAMA!_ ” 

“H-huh??”

He took a deep breath. “I like playing _Cooking Mama_ in my free time. I used to wanna be a chef but I did badly in school and my parents wouldn’t help me with the tuition…” He slumped down. “That’s probably really dumb… Sorry… Huh?”

Ken was already on his phone, typing into the search bar of some site. He didn’t reply to any of Daisuke’s prompts so Daisuke decided to wait. Finally, Ken made a triumphant noise and showed Daisuke his phone. He blinked before focusing on the screen, trying to read what it said. Eventually, he scowled. “I just told you I flunked school, Kaiser. I don’t know English.”

Ken smiled apologetically. “This is a speedrunning website from the west. Do you recognise the game cover?” 

Daisuke frowned but looked closer. When it clicked, his jaw dropped and he looked up at Ken, hope shining in his eyes. “Is that…?”

Ken beamed. “It is! _Cooking Mama_ has a speedrunning category!” Daisuke stared down at the phone in disbelief, an incredulous smile slowly spreading across his face. Was this for real? His favourite game was run by actual speedrunners? 

He laughed happily, reaching out and pulling Ken into a hug. “I can’t believe it! How do I start?” Ken grinned and started explaining some of the intricacies, Daisuke once again enthralled by how open and dynamic he was when he was passionate. He startled when Ken suddenly snapped his fingers in front of his face.

“Earth to Daisuke? You keep spacing out. You okay?” Ken’s brows were furrowed.

Daisuke chuckled. “I’m fine, just a little distracted. Still kinda in shock, to be honest.” 

“If you aren’t going to pay attention, I’ll have to make notes for you to study.” Ken threatened. 

Daisuke gasped dramatically, clutching at his chest in mock horror. “How could you even _entertain_ the idea?!" Ken giggled ( _giggled!! Daisuke’s heart was gonna explode at some point_ ). "I failed school for a reason, you know.”

At this, Ken's mirth faded and he frowned. “I’m sure you did better than you think.”

Daisuke shook his head. “Let’s not get into this right now, okay? Maybe later.” Ken’s eyes narrowed, his frown deepening further, but he didn’t push the issue. Daisuke decided to change the subject. “I have more games I like playing. I can bring them over next time and we could check them out? Or you could come to my place?”

Thankfully, Ken’s expression cleared and a small smile took his frown’s place. “Sure, a lot of games you don’t expect to be speedrun do have categories. One of the games I run is a Digimon game!”

Daisuke laughed. “No way! Show me sometime?” Ken agreed and Daisuke smiled. _More playdates? Sign me up!_

They spent the rest of the session with Ken playing through _Tomb Raider: Anniversary_ casually, exploring the areas for hidden treasures and useful items while Daisuke watched on, a relaxed atmosphere washing over them. Sharing snacks, playing games and hanging out with his best friend? What more could Daisuke ask for?

**Author's Note:**

> Poor Daisuke, he just wanted to try speedrunning but Ken is so strict :c
> 
> So fun fact: Tomb Raider, Digimon and Cooking Mama all actually have speedrunning categories. Cooking Mama only has two games on the Wii but Digimon has multiple games being run. Tomb Raider: Anniversary has multiple categories (under Any% alone, there are like 5).
> 
> A lot of my knowledge of speedrunning was gained from watching streamers, though I mostly watch RE speedruns. But I'll be doing a lot of research into Ken's games for future entries into this series. At the moment, the series I headcanon him running are Digimon (for the irony lmao) and Tomb Raider (mostly later ps2 games), though I plan to find at least one more series for him to run. 
> 
> Daisuke's school issues will probably come up again later in the series because Ken is a supportive bf and wants to help him.


End file.
